exploremusic

Contrary to what we’ve been told, you can shop for legitimate, legal records in Moscow.  After asking around, I was directed to Transylvania Records, a dusty, hot shop one flight down in an apartment complex built around a small common square where everything from rusting Ladas to pristine Bentleys were parked.

The store was bigger than it looked from the outside.  And the selection!  They have box sets I never knew existed.  One room is dedicated entirely to Asian pop and jazz.  And you can imagine how comprehensive the classical room was.

Naturally, I had to buy something representative of the Russian scene.  The problem was a failure to communicate.  The staff, although eager and helpful, couldn’t speak much English and my Russian is confined to “vodka” and “spasiba”—which, in the context of my usage, usually means “Thank you for the vodka.”

Fortunately, certain words are universal.  I pointed at the sign for the section marked “metal.”  The reaction I got was a big smile followed by “Da!  Metal!  Heavy!”  Yegor ran off and returned with a pile of Russian metal CDs and put them on the player one by one.  I bought them all.

When I asked about punk, the reaction was the same:  a big smile and “Da!  Punk rock!”  Another pile of CDs soon materialized.

When I was paying for everything, I noticed what seemed to be a rack of new Russian releases.  As I pointed to each one, I got a brief description in (very) broken English.

“Composer legendary ambient.”

“Post metal prog Russian folk.”

“DJ.  Bang bang band. No good.”

I added what Yegor recommended to the pile and left the rest.  If I have time, I’ll make another visit before I leave.  It’s one of the best record stores I’ve visited in a long, long time.